Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx) Blog
Posted by ma403
9 August 2024Switching specialities mid-way through your medical career is hard work. Imagine moving from fast paced Obstetrics and Gynaecology to equally challenging night shift free General Practice. Add to that, trying to change the tracks of your research focus from largely secondary care based women’s health to primary care; it is fun to say the least. I, Deepthi Lavu, now an almost fully cooked GP in the last stretch of GP training in Exeter have the lived experience of just that!
Trying to find a common ground between my own clinical and research experience and that of the brilliant APEx team based in the University of Exeter, I found myself passionate about navigating the unexplored region of possible gender inequalities across ethnicities in primary care cancer referrals.
The first step of course was to scope the topic. A quick dive into the topic showed scattered evidence on the topic. Next stop – a scoping review! Richard Neal is a brilliant supervisor, and he loves to see your ideas on not more than 2 sides of an A4 sheet. Mine extended to all of a ¾ page.
“Surely it is not hard writing up a project plan”, I thought, and I can tell you know now – it can be the hardest part of your project, second only to writing up your findings (the stage at which I am now). How does one get a project proposal together?
Stage 1- One needs to know what they want to do, needs the rest of the research team to think about why their plan won’t fail, needs the patient and public engagement group to help them know why they should change their original plan and repeat on loop till everyone agrees.
Stage 2- One tries to register their protocol and gaps in the plan glare in their face as they make their way through the registry questions. Now repeat stage 1! The stage 1 and 2 stay on loop till the gaps in plan only let sand through.
Stage 3- This is the brave stage and is not necessary but totally worth it. Look for journals which publish protocols and brace yourself for a peer review. The gaps will gape again but often can be closed with some fine sutures using the capable hands of your research team experience and consensus.
Voila. Our protocol was accepted for publication:
Lavu D, Khan A, Konya J, M Tanimola, P Sarah, Neal R. Gender inequalities across ethnicities in primary care cancer referrals: Scoping review protocol. BJGP Open 2024 Jun 11; BJGPO.2023.0211. https://bjgpopen.org/content/8/2/BJGPO.2023.0211
“Worked hard on a research protocol? Publish it!”
(Acknowledgements and thanks to the brilliant research and PPIE team involved in this project. Special shout out to Judit Konya, Tanimola Martins, Sarah Price and Richard Neal.)
